New duty to promote gender equality will benefit fathers

12 May 2004

Fathers Direct, the national information centre on fatherhood, today welcomed proposals to introduce a new public sector duty to promote gender equality.

It also welcomed the unveiling of the new Commission for Equality and Human Rights as an opportunity to ensure that the workplace and public services reflect the changing needs and aspirations of men as well as adding pressure to end pay and job discrimination against women.

Duncan Fisher, Director of Fathers Direct, said:

“The changing needs and aspirations of men are often overlooked by public services to the detriment of themselves and their families. Yet it is vital, for example, that family services and the NHS modernise themselves so they properly support active fatherhood, that boys’ needs are better understood by schools and that work accommodates a dad’s caring role. The new duty should mean that pockets of good practice will spread quickly through the public sector. “We also welcome the prospect that the new duty could lead to improvements in pay, pensions and job prospects for women. We support all moves to promote fairness at work and at home.”

Why we need fairer policies for mums and dads: Guardian video

FI on Twitter

Schools – boost your results by becoming a FRED provider
‘When I see my children at the weekend they say, “We don’t want to go to McDonald’s – can we read stories instead?”.’
You probably already know how important dads can be to their children’s learning – and if you don’t, you can find out here.